Grizzco Industries, Not Incorporated
by Bluesy Goon
Summary: Fina is a journalist in Inkopolis, and after the opening of a shady establishment, she thinks that this'll be her big break. I posted this story on AO3 and a while ago, but I deleted it for private reasons. I thought I might as well bring it back, because, well, I like it. Again, this may be a one-shot. I'm still trying to get comfortable with writing and posting.


Cupi didn't care how sketchy it was. He didn't care how tacky it was. He didn't care how out-dated, odd, creepy, weird, unprofreshional, eerie, or terrifying it was. He was going to get to the bottom of that 'Grizzco Industries' commercial.

And so was I, apparently.

"No! Let me go!" I yelled.

Cupi forced me towards the weathering shack through the back alley. His weak but deliberate hands managed to take hold of my arm in such a way that it was almost impossible to escape. My heart escalated from a bump to a pound for every step closer we were to his ominous destination.

And don't worry. Cupi's not a serial killer.

He's just a friend WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO STOP.

Thirty more seconds of struggling from the both of us and I finally got him to stop walking and look at me. He frowned and fixed his collar, which he kept pointed upward because he thought it looked cool or something.

I told him it made him look like a cartoon-villain wannabe.

"C'mon," he groaned. "You're never scared of weirdo stuff like this."

He was distracted, so I pulled my arm from his hand and placed my hands on my hips.

"You clearly haven't read my obituary."

"Because you're only eighteen. And still alive."

"It's called 'planning ahead'."

Cupi rolled his eyes and reached out his hand for me to take it. "Just c'mon. I got a Hero Shot under my shirt in case we get jumped."

"Like that's gonna help."

"I've been practicing."

I rolled my eyes and let him take my hand. We started to walk again.

We walked for a bit more. And because I wanted to reassure myself, I said, "Y'know, maybe 'Grizzco Industries' is actually a respected organization that is just struggling to bring up the money to make a decent commercial."

"Or it's another name for some squid's garage containing a pack of surgical equipment."

"I hate you."

"Don't we all?"

I laughed.

And Cupi kept dragging me along.

It wasn't that far a distance away when we arrived to the building. The ominous one that I was talking about.

Before I could even get a proper glimpse of what was inside, though, I was hit with the smell of fish guts.

Not that I know what fish guts smell like. I'm not crazy. It's just a guess.

Cupi pulled out his Hero Shot.

Wow. I didn't really think he brought it. Guns aren't allowed outside of Sheldon's shop or the matches.

But, again, we're in a back alley.

So what the heck.

We reached the doorway of the building. With it's weathered walls and tilted sign, it looked like a shack.

I could see mine and Cupi's shadow break the rectangle of light that shone through the doorway into the shack. I could make out a couple of coolers, a bed, a desk and some speakers on the walls…

I took a step forward into the darkness.

Then Cupi grabbed my shoulders.

"The camera," he said.

Oh, yeah. The only reason why I even considered coming with him to this place.

I pulled out my video camera from my hoodie pocket. My name, Fina, was plastered on top of its cyan blue paint in orange marker with all caps. Printed out pictures from the camera's film were crudely glued all over the device, making it look like an arts 'n crafts project.

I LOVED this thing.

"What a beauty," Cupi teased. "Now let's go ahead in before I start thinking rationally and turn around."

"Fine," I said.

My camera went Beep! as I pressed the silver button on the back. A red circle appeared on the top of the video screen, indicating that I was recording.

"Hello! Welcome to another episode of Into the Aqua, with Fina Sparkling!" I whispered excitedly.

"Since when was your last name 'Sparkling'?" I could hear the raised eyebrow in Cupi's voice.

But I ignored him.

"Today, Cupi and I are entering what appears to be some weird shack. The place calls itself 'Grizzco Industries'! ...Never heard of it. And neither has Cupi. But we're still going to see what it's all about!"

And like the pseudo-gentleman he was, Cupi said "Ladies first," from behind the camera. I rolled my eyes again and stepped into the shack.

Six echoing steps into the place - I was counting - and I jumped back in surprise after hearing a Squish! below me. I pointed the camera down to see what was going on. I just stepped into a gooey, clear ooze, and it was sticking to my yellow kicks.

I groaned for the camera but squealed in my mind. Things were getting better _and_ worse! _That's_ how you know it's gonna make a good story…

I pointed the camera back at Cupi, and he flashed a sideways smile, but I could tell by the lack of exaggeration that he was pretty distracted with his nervousness.

I walked forward a bit more with the camera randomly surveying the room, zooming in on objects that weren't covered by the darkness.

Ten more steps and my foot was yanked up from the floor. I fell back. My head slammed against wood.

"-Fina!" a voice screamed. I knew it was Cupi's voice, but it was hard to make out what he was saying under the pounding of my head.

I looked at where I had been tripped. My left foot was suspended in the air by an old rope barely two feet above the ground.

I had stepped into a lackluster trap.

Oh no, I guess…?

Cupi rushed over to me, but he stopped to cover his ears. It took a second later for me to process why. Static screeched from all four corners of the room. I followed Cupi's example. The floor trembled. My teeth chattered as my head bounced.

Then the static stopped. I slowly lifted my hands from my ears, ready for another auditory assault.

The room shook once more. I covered my ears. But under my hands, I could pick up on a voice.

"EXPLAIN."

The voice sounded bored and everything, but the speakers in the shack were so loud that it hurt to uncover my ears.

My camera was shaking from the sound just a few inches away. This was probably a good time to start recording, so I grabbed it and turned it on.

Cupi, like he always does when he needs to look profreshional for a bit, went from tacky to Toni Kensa real quick. He put down his collar and buttoned his sleeves. His fingers flew to his hair. He fixed his hair band so that both tentacles flowed to the sides instead of to the back for a less aggressive style. "Hello, sir!" he cheered to top everything off.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"My name is Cupi! Please, if I may ask, is this the ever-so-magnificent 'Grizzco Industries'?"

"YEAH."

Cupi mouthed at me to hide the camera. I was annoyed, but he always knew what was best when it came to situations like these. So I put it inside my hoodie pocket and left it on. Muffled audio's better than nothing at all, I guess.

"Well, my friend here has sent an online application to join your services. She is very invested when it comes to serving the city that raised her as a child."

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

I assumed the voice was talking to me.

"Fina."

"LAST NAME."

Ugh.

"Aqua."

There was a muffled grunt followed by some ruffling and scribbling.

Cupi looked over at me and motioned for me to quickly film the surrounding area.

I snatched the camera out from my hoodie pocket and let it scan the area. Right now, I just needed things on film. We could analyze them later.

Then I zoomed in on a small brown statue on top of one of the coolers in the shack. It was clearly made out of some kind of bronze, but the creature was something I had never seen before. It looked somewhat ancient, like those four legged creatures I saw in one of the few sunken scrolls that were released to the public, out of nowhere, a few years back.

I heard a tap on the floor. Cupi successfully got my attention, and informed me to hide the camera again.

After two seconds, the voice shook the room once again.

"WELCOME, F-F-FINA AQUA," the voice struggled as it said my name, like it was cursing for the first time.

"THIS IS GRIZZCO INDUSTRIES. I AM MR. GRIZZ, YOUR BOSS. HERE, YOU WILL LEARN THE VALUED SKILL OF HUNTING SALMONID. I WILL NOW PLAY AN INFORMATIVE VIDEO DETAILING THE INTERESTS OF GRIZZCO INDUSTRIES."

"..."

"UH, VIDEO'S NOT BOOTING UP. GIVE ME A FEW SECONDS."

Mr. Grizz started ruffling through some stuff.

Cupi walked over to me. He indicated to me to pull my foot that was tied by the rope.

Oh yeah, the trap. I pulled my foot and was free from the trap. Again, lackluster. I stood up.

Mr. Grizz didn't show any reaction to what just happened; the ruffling continued.

"This is so weird," I whispered. I couldn't help but smile.

Cupi shook his head dismissively and tugged on the bottom of his shirt. He surveyed the room for a quick second when the three televisions hooked up to the wall flashed on.

The televisions began to play. They played the same commercial from before, the commercial that brought us to this place to begin with.

Cupi looked at the walls as if he was listening for something and then twirled his finger in a circle at me.

So I took the camera back out.

I focused on the television for two seconds, and then back on the weird bronze statue. Either it had the weirdest mustache in history or it was holding something in its mouth. I wondered what it was. As soon as I got back home, I was going to get Tenler to search it up on Splatnet.

Someone screamed from far back where we came. Actually, multiple people. The screams multiplied like a virus. Cupi and I glanced back. There were three hooded figures.

Running straight at us.

We couldn't tell if they were going to trample us. They sprinted across the littered grounds of the back alley, getting closer and closer to the shack.

Cupi reached back for the Hero Shot under his shirt. I retreated to a wall and kept on the camera.

Cupi started to shoot like a maniac and the three figures expertly dodged his bullets. They backed up against the walls that were along the shack's opening as if they were hiding from someone.

"Dude!" a hooded figure said. "I told you to tuck in your tentacles!"

"I thought you were talking to Marie," another hooded figure responded. He had a slight accent, but it was still clear that Inklish was his first language.

"Don't call me Marie," the third figure said with a more 'foreign' accent. She definitely wasn't from around here.

"That's what Rockenberg calls you."

"Because he's a creep."

"Says you," Rockenberg said.

"At least I don't call little girls 'Waifi'."

"Hey! Kandy's legal-"

"Shh!"

The three inklings paused.

I shut off the camera.

Suddenly, I could see what they were running from. A stampede of inklings, jellyfish, urchins, etcetera suddenly stopped in their tracks after catching view of the shack. Silently, the crowd agreed to just turn around.

They weren't dumb like us, so they didn't enter the shady shack.

The hooded three then looked back and forth at each other, then at me, and then at Cupi. Then, the one with a feminine voice lifted her hood.

Wow.

I instantly recognized her.

Marina, the only Octoling in Inkopolis.

I elbowed Cupi in the arm. He elbowed me in the side.

Ow.

Marina focused her eyes on Cupi's. "Um, sorry… Are you, uh, Mr. Grizz?"

"Cover your ears," Cupi responded.

Cupi and I covered our ears. Marina tilted her head, and so did the other two hooded figures.

"THAT'S ME."

Marina and the two yelped in agony.

Cupi laughed because he's an idiot.

But my heart was beating too fast to even care.

Marina recovered from the sudden blast of sound. She pulled out a clipboard, seemingly from nowhere, and looked up at one of the speakers.

"Well, um, Mr. Grizz sir?"

Everyone covered their ears.

"YES?"

I have already sent you an email detailing my duties in verifying this job to ensure safety for its workers," she said. "Here is a copy, just as a reminder throughout this first day. And as you can see, I brought two skilled fighters with me to fill in your requirement of four participants."

Everyone covered their ears.

"...UH, DO I HAVE TO PLAY THE INFO VIDEO AGAIN?"

"That is required."

"IT TAKES TIME TO LOAD, THOUGH. DO YOU GUYS WANT TO WAIT THAT LONG OR, JUST, UH, GET INTO IT AND STUFF."

"The video is required, sir."

Mr. Grizz started ruffling again and the video began to play again. Cupi tried to speak, but Marina put a hand up to silence him.

I took my camera back out. I walked to a corner of the room and filmed Marina.

No, I'm not weird. I just wanna boost the views on my vlog.

Two minutes later, the video ended. I put away the camera.

Marina jotted something down on her clipboard. She looked amused.

"SO, UH, WE'RE FIVE MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE. WE SHOULD PROBABLY HEAD FOR THE BOAT AND START GETTING YOU GUYS YOUR EQUIPMENT. YOU OKAY WITH THAT?"

"Alright then." Marina clapped. "Get ready, guys."

In the back of the shack, a wooden door swung open. Behind it lay a Jump Pad.

"THIS'LL TAKE YOU GUYS STRAIGHT TO THE BOAT TO, UH, GET STARTED AND STUFF."

I started feeling nervous again. I looked over at Cupi, who looked back at me. He closed his eyes, stuck his tongue out, and brought a finger across his neck.

I hated him so much.


End file.
